Word: windedly
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...time to run before the wind...
When airplanes follow a great-circle course, they often buck head winds all the way. A longer course to the left or right may give them helpful tail winds. How to find such winds has been the problem. The pilot cannot depend, like a sailing-ship captain, on the average wind directions over long periods of time. He crosses too quickly for that. A strong head wind lasting only a few hours may upset his schedule as much as if it kept blowing for weeks...
...Look Ahead. The answer is "pressure pattern flying." Certain winds are pretty likely to be associated with certain weather conditions. An area of low pressure in the northern hemisphere, for instance, is surrounded by winds blowing counterclockwise (see map). Around high-pressure areas, the wind blows clockwise. If the pilot knows which he is approaching, a low-pressure or high-pressure area, he can set his course to take advantage of the most favorable winds...
...Push from Behind. If the pressure keeps falling, the pilot can tell that he is approaching a low-pressure area. Heading towards Europe, he would veer south (as on the map) to pick up a tail wind. Flying west, he would veer north, and get a similar boost. Radioed reports from ships, from shore or from other planes help him figure out the situation. Frequently a properly plotted pressure course, though covering a longer sea distance, saves more, than an hour on a transatlantic flight. It also saves fuel and money-a modern, four-engined airplane costs...
...begins this new novel by Britain's H. E. Bates, who served with the R.A.F. in World War II, has written scores of short stories and several other novels (Spella Ho, Fair Stood the Wind for France). His latest is short and exciting enough to be read between supper and bedtime; its nonstop narrative includes the low-level gunning of the Breadwinner by an enemy plane, the damaged ship's run home under sail through a rising storm, the deaths of the rescued pilots. Along with all this, Author Bates raises the moral question that was common...